Marsden Rock (left), on the North Sea coast near South Shields, Tyne and Wear, northeastern England.

Paul Lomax

The boroughs north of the River Tyne (Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside) are part of the historic county of Northumberland, while those to the south (Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland) belong to the historic county of Durham. From 1974 to 1986 Tyne and Wear was an administrative unit. In 1986 the metropolitan county lost its administrative powers, and its constituent boroughs became autonomous administrative units, or unitary authorities. Tyne and Wear is now a geographic and ceremonial county without administrative authority.

Exploitation of the area’s greatest historic asset, coal, began in the 13th century but was restricted to the exposed coalfield west of Newcastle, near the river for easy transport. Throughout medieval times coal was exported from Newcastle to London, but it was not until the wood shortage of Elizabethan times that coal became important as domestic fuel and trade increased dramatically. During the 18th century, improvements in mining techniques and the development of the steam engine enabled the exploration of the concealed coalfield east of Newcastle. Long before the Industrial Revolution, coal-dependent industries (glass, pottery, chemicals, and iron) developed along the Tyne. For a time Tyneside was also the country’s chief salt-producing area, using coal to evaporate seawater.

The Customs House (centre left), an arts and entertainment venue on the River Tyne, South Shields, …

The 19th century brought two major advances: the development of heavy transport (railways and later iron ships) and the widening market for different types of coal for smelting, gas, and steam production. With the coming of the railways, the mines were no longer limited by accessibility to water transport and thus were able to penetrate farther east into the concealed coalfield beneath the limestone. Drab mining settlements came into being, often attached to existing agricultural villages. Industrial development during the late 19th century concentrated in the Tyneside ports. The old industries—salt, glass, and chemicals—declined and were replaced by expanding shipyards building new iron ships.

Like most British areas strongly dependent upon heavy industry, the region suffered during the economically depressed years between World Wars I and II, and unemployment has remained a problem despite efforts to diversify the industrial structure. The disappearance of coal mining and the decline of heavy industry in the area by the end of the 20th century shifted the economic focus to newer manufacturing sectors, such as electronics and automotive engineering, and to service activities. Area 208 square miles (539 square km). Pop. (2001) 1,075,938; (2011) 1,104,825.